Day 23 no external pips

[Emma623100]

Hi all, we are first timers! We had some heritage eggs set under a broody, but she abandoned them at day 16. They were cold when we found them (room temp for us that day was around 22 celcius so not super cold!) and could only have been unattended for a couple of hours at most. We candled and saw 6 still with some movement and looking good developmentally so got them into the incubator. Removed one since. So - 5 left but we’re now on day 23 and not much happening! Maybe some veeeeeery minor movement (almost just a vibration) of a couple but no external pips, no chirping. Is there still hope??

Incubator is set and calibrated at 37.5 degrees and 60% humidity.

 

[SilverBirds]

Welcome!

Are you SURE they are on day 23? I'd give them a little more time. Recandle them and see if you can spot movement. I don't remove suspicious eggs until day 25-26 and I wait longer if the egg still looks good. Hopefully you get some that hatch!

 

[Emma623100]

Thank you! Yes, chronologically we will tick over to day 24 in about 6hrs but developmentally we’re not sure. Was our broody’s first time too.

We candelled and saw movement in one but no internal pip… internal pip in another but no movement. Couldn’t detect any movement or internal pip in the rest but have put them all back in and will watch and wait in hope

 

[SilverBirds]

Thank you! Yes, chronologically we will tick over to day 24 in about 6hrs but developmentally we’re not sure. Was our broody’s first time too.

We candelled and saw movement in one but no internal pip… internal pip in another but no movement. Couldn’t detect any movement or internal pip in the rest but have put them all back in and will watch and wait in hope

Because they eggs got cold for a few hours it probably stunted the chicks growth. Hopefully you get some little peeps!

 

[Emma623100]

Update (day 23.5!) - 2 eggs have pipped this morning and 2 more have done some visible “wriggling” so it’s looking positive!

 

[FunClucks]

Update (day 23.5!) - 2 eggs have pipped this morning and 2 more have done some visible “wriggling” so it’s looking positive!

How did things work out?

 

[Emma623100]

We ended up with 2 happy heathy chicks. A 3rd pipped but failed to zip and didn’t make it. The 2 remaining eggs did nothing. When we eventually opened them up they looked like late quitters sometime after lockdown, they were fully formed but still quite small.

Was a huge learning curve for us. We’re extremely thankful for the 2 we have but wow, it was a stressful ride! Once we get past the PTSD we might try again in the spring